Recent advances in three dimensional modeling technologies have set the stage for direct automation of hearing aid design. Such advances have occurred in areas such as geometric reasoning, pattern recognition, automatic decomposition and feature extraction, advanced morphing technologies, geometric deformation mechanisms, modeling of flexible objects, inverse dynamic and dynamic constraints modeling. Furthermore, the development of robust mathematical underpinnings of computer graphics have enhanced a fundamental shift in 3-dimensional modeling paradigm. The previous reliance on heuristics and ad hoc methods are completely replaced by techniques based on a robust mathematical foundation.
The adaptation of such advances in three-dimension technology for accurate characterization of the ear canal physiology and external morphology provides an unprecedented impetus for hearing instrument design automation. Additionally, these advances have established an exciting basis for computer integrated manufacturing protocols.
One of the fundamental outcomes of the last quarter of a century is the brazen realization of computer aided feature detection and generation technology. This technology has made it possible to establish algorithmic systems for feature definition and taxonomy, feature modeling and representation, feature recognition protocols and interactions. The key approaches in feature recognition straddle two fundamental concepts: Surface and volume feature representation. Q. Xi and M. M. Marefat, “Machine Interpretation of CAD Data for Manufacturing Applications,” ACM Computing Surveys, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 264-311, September 1997. J. J. Shah, D. S. Nau, and M. Mantyla, Adhances in Feature Based Manufacturing, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B. V., 1994. A. Z. Qamhiyah, R. D. Venter, and B. Benhabib, “Geometric Reasoning for the Extraction of Form Features,” CAD vol. 28, no. 11, pp. 887-903, 1996. T. Lim, “Lamina—Based Feature Recognition and Applications in Manufacturing,” PhD Thesis, Heriot-Watt Univ., Scotland, United Kingdom, July 2000.
The present invention is directed to a new hearing aid design and manufacturing technology that has the potential to revolutionize detailing and modeling of hearing instruments.
The advantages offered by this technology include, among other things, the complete elongation of manual interventions protocols inherent in the custom manufacturing of hearing instruments, increased throughput, insurance of collaborative instrument design between dispenser and manufacturing facility, intelligent and adaptive hearing systems design and consequently the complete work flow process automation of manufacturing of hearing aid instruments.